The Doctor and The Sparrow
by flyawaymydarlings
Summary: Time is... Wibbly-Wobbly, to say the least. It's been a year since Sally Sparrow had her run-in with The Doctor, but centuries before their famous meeting for him. His ninth regeneration, is more than dark. He's malicious, the Time War always haunting him. But Sally's stubborn, and determine to make him into the man she met, the savior. Huge thank you to David for the cover pic!
1. Chapter 1

...He was... _confused_. Things were a blur, as memories of a thousand life times flooded back to him, in this new mind, as it did after every regeneration, in seconds, _and it hurt_. No Time Lord ever complained, but it was _awful._ Like your brain was being split open, and memories, _so many memories_ were thrusted in, without regard of wanting to be remembered. Of course, he didn't complain, he never did. What was vast pain for several a moment when it saved your life? Of course, that's not completely true either. Regeneration... It kills who you are. Your personality, your body, your spirit, everything. _It kills you_. Only a shell is left. Past emotions, past thoughts, ideas, plans. All you have left are those memories.

The Doctor... _I'm still the Doctor._ -That was always his first thought when he regenerated, something about it... It was comforting. The Doctor stumbled about his TARDIS, clutching his head, the warmth of the regeneration still flooding his body. _Something was wrong... The pain shouldn't last this long._ He heard an anguished cry rip through the TARDIS, not aware until a moment later that it must have been his own cry, with his new voice. Then came his recent memories, of his latest regeneration... The ones that, more than anything, he would like to forget. And then, _he did_. There were memories there, just a glimpse of them, he was sure of, of something. Three men, one was him. The him he just was... And the others, they were him too... No, that can't be right, he didn't recognize them. Maybe he was just disoriented and confused, and imagining things... No, he was the Doctor. He never just imagined things.

But the faces of the tall skinny man was fading, along with the bow-tied one... And they, they had done something, they had saved it, Gallifrey! "Stop that." He growled, as the memories started to vanish again. _Gallifrey is safe. Remember that, you. Remember!__ Gallifrey falls no more!_

There was no time for him to consider, for anything, before an intense fatigue overcame him. Try as he may to blink it away, his eyes only got heavier, the world around him more disoriented, and the memories- the memories he knew felt so important- less clear. He felt himself falling, and reached out to catch himself, but there was nothing. A single face came to him, that of a blonde girl, with warm brown eyes, that glowed gold. She somehow frightened and comforted him simultaneously, holding immense, terrifying power, while still managing to assure him that it'd all be alright, that he would remember him when he needed to, all from simply her eyes . The girl spoke, saying only two words; **_"Bad wolf."_**

* * *

...The Doctor reawakened, who knows how long later. Minutes, days, centuries, there was no way for him to ever tell. And he had forgotten.

Forgotten what he wanted so hard to remember, how he regenerated, the girl, all of it... All except what he wished he could shut out the most. _He had ended the Time War. And now he carried the weight of all the Gallifreyans he had let die- __**he **__had killed- with him. Forever._

It was then the Doctor something he hadn't done in a very, very long time; He wept. He wept for his friends, children, planet, but, most of all, for himself. He stayed there, like that, face in knees, crying, for what felt like an eternity. And it very well could have been. He had all of time, and now, it was all to him. He was the only one, with no one to share it with. Not anymore. _That me... He's going to be the me that never was. The one that never happened. He... __**I**__ will be forgotten by __everyone...__ Myself included._

He finally gathered himself, and stood, head throbbing, deciding he had spent long enough feeling sorry for himself, and it was time to get down to business. Already tugging off the too small clothes, he traveled down the TARDIS's interior, debating giving her another redecoration. Once finally in the room he wanted to be, the wardrobe, he took his time, considering, not just his new look, but _everything_.

When he finally decided on his outfit, deciding this would be the least flashiest of them all, two things happened at once; the leather jacket was shrugged on, and the Doctor determined that this regeneration was not a good man.


	2. Chapter 2

And he wasn't, no, not in the least. The Doctor had been many different men before. He had been grumpy, frumpy, suave, eccentric, sporty, harsh, lyrical, mannered, and patriarchal, but never one like this. Never before had he ever been _bad. _After having been a hero for so many lifetimes, he felt he had earned being the one who causes the trouble he had so long fought against.

It took some by surprise at first, to have a man who had so long been their protector to suddenly be causing them great terror, greater than any he had saved them from. His incredible danger came not just from not having anything to lose, but from wanting to have less. His life had no great value, especially with all him doing as of late was causing harm. It would have been better for him to have been killed. But a raging, cold, careless Time Lord was something even the largest, scariest, _strongest_ of races, species, warriors would not dare to cross.

Fire, devices, his hands… He could make anything into a weapon, and he did.

There was no preference, no difference. Races that caused harm to others living on their planets, ones he found incompetent, few, _so few, _were safe. Homes of past companions, were the only he couldn't bring himself to hurt. He'd travel back to them, sometimes; Trion, Traken, the Planet of the Sevateem… _Earth. _ Those places he kept off limits from. He couldn't risk it, hurting a companion's blood line, either previously or future. Because –in the deep dark thoughts, the ones he never let bubble to the surface, never gave any recognition- he cared for them. He loved them. He _needed _them, every single one.

No, he couldn't let any harm come to them, because it could affect his life. It's not that it was against the Rules of Time. He didn't care about those. There was no one to enforce it. Let there be paradoxes. That wasn't his concern, even if he had himself convinced it was. This regeneration of his… He had no one to look out for, to put first. Not that he wanted anyone. And so this regeneration was so, _so_, very selfish.

But then he got worse… He got _bored_. And the Doctor was a treacherous man when genocide was enough to satisfy him.

It became a sport to him, to get people to talk to, to _trust _him, only to die by his hand. _Begging. __**They always **__**begged. **_

_And he loved it. _The look of utter shock, followed by disbelief… Then the realization. The realization he wasn't joking, mucking about. He meant business, and they had no chance. Even in the species that were bigger and stronger than he, he could always think of something. A shock, poisons gas, being fed something deadly. So many tried to fight him, but the ending was always the same. _The Doctor won. _

In time, that wasn't enough. The look of betrayal became tedious as well. He wanted _more. _More pain. He wanted those… those who didn't want to die to do it themselves. To make people cause themselves the pain. That… That was the ultimate win. To show his brutality, cunningness, perniciousness. _To get people to kill themselves. _

Sometimes it was a task easily accomplished… Some species were almost eager to submit to him. Those were frustrating, hardly worth his time. Submission took the fun out of it. No, the clever ones… The ones who got _so close _to escaping, being free of them… Them, those ones. They were what- _who_ he lived for. No longer did he set out to be the ultimate savior. Now he was the kind of man he would have once despised. He was a man that any past or future version of himself would have been ashamed to share a name with.

Because the name was where any similarities to the prior hims ended. He didn't even get to keep all his past memories.

He had no sympathy, not anymore. Any person, village, _planet, _he deemed unworthy. And that was everyone. He had no set expectations, only knowing when something displeased him. Being flawed, that was what gave the Doctor the right to destroy them. And everyone was flawed. His views were fallacious, he knew that, but he _simply did not care._ For a man with two, he was heartless.


	3. Chapter 3

It had been a year since Sally Sparrow had her final, real encounter with the Doctor. And it had been excitingly brief. He had four things and a lizard to take care of. He didn't even know her. It was all over so quickly, but something about the strange man who went through life out of order… Well, she supposed that was exactly the reason she kept so interested in him. He was this mythical thing, so extraordinary for someone who up until meeting him had been deep, bored, and rather cynical of the world. He was a breath of fresh air, a new beginning for her. Even only ever having contact -contact being the vaguest way she could word it- twice, he had made quite the impression. To _know_ there was so much more out there… That is what was truly extraordinary. Not the Doctor himself, but the possibilities he had brought in his wake.

She had always known herself to be incredible, but never had she had reason or way to prove it. She didn't want to work for the police, or anything like that. It was too much training, effort, only for people to mindlessly despise you anyway, as you were more likely to give them a parking ticket than save them from a gunman. Yeah, the life of a copper was much too stiff for her, and most certainly didn't have the amount of pay off she would have liked.

Before it had seemed Sally was doomed to go through an utterly boring existence, making barely decent wage, because her massive intellect was artistically. Writing, painting, filming, photographing, _creating, _that was where her strengths lied. _Feelings. _Not maths and science, to become an engineer or a medic or something like that, where she could make a pretty penny. People had such lack of appreciation for art now a days, if it wasn't old, widely respected literature or art. No one seemed to be able to make that kind of name for themselves anymore, unless they were children's authors or dead, and Sally wasn't sure which of those options she least rather be. Especially poems. She loved to write poems, and short stories, but no one wanted to read them. They simply were not in high demand. Of course, she could always just post them on the internet, but where was the fun in that? Anyone could steal it. Change a detail and claim it as their own. That was something Sally most certainly wasn't okay with happening.

Pulling a hand through her hair, she unlocked the front door to the video store. Larry had over-slept, per usual. She could easily have woken him up, but it was so much more fun when he came in bumbling an hour later, sweating and apologetic. And the fact he always made up for it with dinner didn't hurt either. She dropped the keys on the counter and made her way into the back room, grabbing the laptop she and Larry kept stashed back there, along with several small TVs. They had been planning to move past the Doctor, and all his madness. But something about the way he looked at her… That last, fleeting glance, drove her on yet. And Larry, bless him, willingly complied, just as fascinated and awestruck, -if not more so- by the Doctor as Sally was.

So they had researched. And researched. _And researched. _There was infuriatingly little on him. Well, that wasn't completely true. There were quite a few accounts of him, but physical descriptions and personalities never fit quite correctly. There was this one bloke, Elton, who said to have had seen him several times. She and Larry had gone to meet with him, and he had quite obviously met the Doctor. This was an interesting story. She had made it into a short, changing names and certain ideas, of course, for privacy reasons, and was rather proud. She also wrote about the weeping angels quite a bit, and painted them often. But she could never bring herself to take pictures of them, or keep the pictures she drew. If she was honest with herself, she was absolutely terrified by them.

But that's all beside the point. What had happened with Elton, -what really happened, not the short story version, that'd be silly- was the point. She had found a website about a group who had been "Doctor Hunting." As she scrolled, there was quite a bit of vague bits and pieces about him, nothing that she couldn't have found out from the rest of her research. However, what was odd, was, for a bit, after rather constant updates, there was nothing for a while, then a series of video diaries from Elton, telling of his wild, and, frankly, unbelievable run-ins with the Doctor. Of course, that was only unbelievable for someone who hadn't gotten into something mad with him around, too. And, the real icing on the cake, was when he pulled down his brick girlfriend. It could have easily been shrugged off as special effects by non-believers, but to someone who knew… It was cold hard evidence. Within the next week, Sally, Larry, and Elton were meeting in a little café for tea and to discuss. His stone girlfriend had been left at home, the locals finding her disconcerting. Oddly enough, people seemed to be put-off by a talking brick with a face. Not to be rude, but Sally was rather weary of moving stone herself.

They exchanged stories, the pair knowing his rather well, him seeming quite frightened by theirs. They also noted and discussed the Doctor had different women with him at the time. When Elton had met him, and seen him times before, he was always with a blonde named Rose, whose mum was Jackie Tyler. When Sally and Larry had encountered him, he was with a dark skinned woman, that he'd called Martha. But, this time, he was for certain the same man. By comparing stories, it seemed the time-traveling Doctor was an alias used by multiple men. Or at least, that's what she believed, until Elton had an even crazier theory, although, according to him, it was a proven fact. _It was all the same man._

"Well," He had said, voice suddenly dropping mysteriously, and reaching into his coat pocket, "I thought that too, for a while. _But_… I got in contact with this woman, who was photographed with two of the so-called Doctors, one with gray hair and a smoking jacket, the other with curly brown hair and a comically long scarf." He pulled the photos out to reveal the men he described, both who she had seen, but they had appeared much more blurry in her internet searches. With each of them was the same pretty brunette woman.

"Who is she?" Larry asked, studying the one that had the Doctor with the scarf.

"Her name is _Sarah Jane Smith."_ He said her name slowly, pausing between each part. "She traveled with him, a long time ago, like Rose and Martha."

"I wonder what that's like." Sally murmured absently, studying the other photo.

"What what's like?" Elton asked.

"Hm?" Sally looked up from him, pulled from whatever chain of thought she had been in. "Oh, traveling with the Doctor." She expanded, "It's just… If he always lives like he does the times we've met him… I wonder what it's like, for all these girls. It just seems so…" _Fun. _"Tiring, is all. Living such an action filled life."

Sally couldn't claim to be living a slow life anymore. She went looking for adventure, people to save, unexplainable occurrences, and of course, if the Doctor happened to be around… That was a bonus. But she was quite contempt with the thrill of saving people, facing evils most didn't know existed, and over all being a hero when no one else was around. It was almost like living a double life. Of course, she was never masked, but what kept her identity undercover was the people's lack of desire to talk about experiences that would dub them mad by others.

"I agree. It was fun for a bit… But I'm quite pleased with how I'm living now." Elton agreed, before diving back into his story. "You see, there was an article about her in some off-brand, old newspaper's website. I always figure to keep an eye on them, seeing as if it's on a big channel, I'll hear about it some way or another. It's the odd ones you've gotta keep an eye on." He nodded wisely. "Anyway, they were doing bits on all the journalist they had, separated by decade, and listing how they came to them, how they left, whatnot. I was just skimming through really, when her name caught my eye. She was the only one who left under _mysterious_ circumstances. It was probably nothing, silly of me to take any notice, really, except… It wasn't nothing. So, I do some research on her name, and contact the newspaper about her, pretending to be doing family research. They give me that she left mysteriously after being sent out to do a thing over at a military organization called UNIT. However, a friend of her at the paper who was a photographer had seen her about with these men a few times, and decided to snap some pictures, you know, so others would know she wasn't dead at least and whatnot. She kind of disappeared for a while, and then returned one day, and picked her life back up, but wasn't the same. She didn't go back to steady work, spending all her time doing 'mysterious' tasks. It was all rather vague, but they sent me the pictures, yet didn't have any further information. I tried to go back and talk to Jackie a couple times, but she either wouldn't let me in, ignore me, or wasn't home… I should go check on her again. I haven't seen her in a while." He added, almost to himself.

"Go on," Sally prodded gently.

"Right, well. Let's just say, many internet searches, contacts, and time later, I finally got a hold of her son, Luke."

Sally regarded him, eyes narrowed with slight judgment. "You're a bit of a stalker, aren't you?"

Elton fumbled with denial, looking to Larry for back up, but only getting a shrug from the other man. "I am not. I'm an _investigator._" He denied, not sounding to completely believe it himself, and changing to offense. "Well, you are too, finding me, looking for the Doctor like this."

"Alright, sorry, go on." She backpedaled.

_"Thank you."_ He cleared his throat, and continued. "As I was saying. I got her son's number, and called him up, and, after being threatened to have him to get the cops if I ever called him again, he put his mum on the phone, and we had a proper discussion, and met up, funnily enough, here, the next day." He leaned his head down, looking up at them through his brows for emphasis. "And boy, did I learn a lot from her. She knew almost everything about him. Apparently, the Doctor is the same man, but he can change his face." Elton was quite obviously expecting a reaction from them, but only got blank looks from both, him not have explaining well enough for them to understand what he was getting at. "When the Doctor is about to die, he can do a thing called _regenerating _to avoid death. It completely changes him, physically, mentally, but at heart, or actually, _hearts, _he has two, he's the same person. Because he's an _alien._"

Sally and Larry exchanged dubious looks, but slowly came to terms with it. With everything as bonkers as it already was, there was no reason not to believe him. They wrapped up the discussion, making plans to meet up again if either them got any more information on the Doctor; plans that Sally didn't intend on keeping. It probably wouldn't matter anyway, it was quite unlikely that she would never meet the Doctor again. That didn't mean she would give up her action-filled life, no, if anything, she was only going to strive even harder, now feeling as though she had to compete with the lives of a companion. She was, in a strange way, rather jealous of the women who traveled with him. Why hadn't she been invited? She was brilliant. What gave the other girls an edge? Their lives seemed so incredible, living from adventure to adventure like they did, with all of not only time, but space too, to explore! _It wasn't fair,_ she decided, recollecting the events of her own first adventure, always stuck on the same planet, in the same area, at the same time. There was only so much she could do. Still, it was by no means bad, and she'd have to be content with it… Or so she thought.


	4. Chapter 4

Immediately after opening the laptop she had been pulled into her daydream. Snapping out of it, she returned her attention to the screen, not even quite able to remember what she had meant to do on it. That was no matter, what with the actions being so constant, her mind had wired itself to go to a website on strange occurrences in the London area, without needing to be aware of her actions. It was strange, how, in life threatening situations, people were still somehow able to make that a top priority, getting the word out. Whether it was brave or stupid, Sally didn't know… Actually, yes, she did. It was stupid, but happened to save quite a few people's lives when Sally was around. True, most cases were only false leads were faked or posted by loonies, but the real deals… Those were the days Sally lived for.

In all honestly, Sally had developed a God-Complex around herself, not out of vanity, but necessity. She was, in short, nothing extraordinary, which was something she was completely aware she was unaware of. By that, the knowledge she was no one special was always at the tip of her subconscious. It balanced itself right between knowing and refusing to think of it. That was the way to do it, to always have the threat of being completely average on your mind, without ever truly acknowledging it… Maybe Sally had read _1984_ one too many times, and had fallen into some of the aspects of the Party's ideals, simply by her fascination with it. She was hard pressed to fall for anything subliminal, unless it was a sensation she created for herself, within herself. She just wasn't wrong when she called herself an introverted extrovert. She was ingenious when it came to aspects on herself, aware of everything somewhere within her mind. She wasn't always able to articulate her inner genius. Or, more of the problem, was that she _would _articulate her thoughts, when she didn't want for them to be out in the open. She always thought before she spoke, but the variation of the two were embarrassingly nonexistent. Even when she didn't consciously want her opinions to be voiced, her subconscious would make sure they were known anyway. It would be much easier if she didn't crave human interaction. Sally lived her life in constant shades of gray, nothing ever black and white. That was a much too easy way to look at the world.

As predominantly subdominant -that was another thing Sally's mind was forever struggling with, contradictions on _everything_- as her own mortality was, she had to keep it ignored, with the thoughts of her own superiority just reminded of daily. She needed ego boosts from someone else constantly, but not frequently. That was the brilliance of Larry. He had a wonderful, soft, kind, well-meaning heart, and was unwillingly ignorant. There were so many concepts that he would simply go along with, without truly understanding, because his intellect lacked, yet his heart was always completely in it. He was undoubtedly loyal, unquestionably dull, and unbelievably kind. Sally had taken to teaching him false facts, to test his gullibility. He went along with her whole-heartedly. Oh, but she was making him out as some sort of idiot, which he was not. Larry simply, rightfully, put his complete trust in Sally, and saw no reason to argue or cause trouble, when she was rarely wrong. And he always had wonderful ideas, it was his execution of them that would falter. So, Sally was the mind, Larry the soul of their dynamic. Simple as that.

Sally needed her false ego to go on helping people. To give _people_ a sense of security, one must first give _off _a sense of security. No one would be reassured if a nervous, unconfident, uncertain little girl came to their rescue. They'd just figure that there was about to be another life going to waste. But if you came storming in, demanding respect, radiating confidence, practically smelling of authority, acting as though you're a forced to be reckoned with, you've at least have put the savees mind to ease slightly, even if it was all just a front.

Then of course, came the hard part. Escaping. Sally went in unarmed, and not a murderer of any sorts. She wasn't there to fight, she was there to make sure _everybody lived. _Larry would get maps of the area the distressed person was in, come up with escape routes, and try to come up with ways to trap the offender. Trap being somewhat relative to discombobulate. Of course, although the focus was aliens, it was more likely to hear about something from a news station. Which is why all four TVs in the little room and however many in the back were all, as Elton suggested, little news stations, all the time. The big ones the authorities took care of. "Strange occurrences" was the phrase to look out for. It was shocking how many rescues one could plan from simply having the right information and knowledge. Surprising no one else did it. Although, how many people truly believed in the supernatural and alien that were also devoted to protecting others from it?

That was completely rhetorical, of course. The answer was not many.

The rest of the morning went by slow. Sally went through the news channels and articles, finding nothing of interest, followed by a slow day on the emergency extraterrestrial websites. Roughly an hour late, Larry shuffled in, mumbling his usual frantic apology, knowing at this point that they were both aware of how the conversation went.

Larry: "Why didn't you wake me up?"

Sally: _(Lying) _"You looked so peaceful."

Larry: "I'm so sorry."

Sally: "I know, it's okay."

Larry: "No, it's not, you've had to run here and do all that," _(At which he would gesture to the TV screens or laptop) _"by yourself."

Sally: "Honestly, it's fine, it's no worry."

Larry: "Let me make it up to you."

Sally: "You don't have to."

Larry: "Want to go out for dinner tonight? My treat?"

Sally: "Oh, alright."

He was late almost every other day. He wasn't irresponsible by any means, he just somehow managed to sleep through alarms.

So, Larry got himself situated in the shop, taking over the laptop while Sally helped the customers that shuffled in and out.

It was all quite normal, before Sally got a familiar sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. Today was slow, there were no customers at the moment, and Larry was manning the electronics, so, she let herself feel the horrible and incomparable sense of dread. Dread that her life was repetitive, unchangeable, unvarying. That she was stuck. She strived so much for adventure, her life had unwittingly fallen into a routine, which was something she hadn't had in her life since school. She used to live day by day, rarely planning ahead. It was chaotic, and _so much fun. _The feelings inside her used to be constantly stirring, always a whirlpool of misery and thrill… Now she just felt discontent with how content she was. In fact, she was almost disgusted with herself.

A deep panic set over her, and she felt her eyes widen, looking around frantically, at everything, but never moving from the worn plush chair she had been seated in.

_She had to get out, run away, leave this consistent, never-changing, never-ending thing known as her life. She to get out, go, __**run- **_

"Sally, I think I've got something."And, like that, Larry's voice pulled her from the deep dark hole that was her mind, and she was content with the adventurous, audacious life she had.


	5. Chapter 5

The Doctor had gone back to Earth… _again. _He didn't know why. It only hurt him, but he couldn't stop himself. It was almost as though he liked the awful sad feeling. _That's not it. You like torturing yourself. You feel like you deserve it. _Of course, these were the thoughts that were buried way, way, deep down. Never fully acknowledged, of course. If he was made aware of any of his actions, it would tear him apart to see how awful he was. All the things he had done, people he had hurt… No, awareness, _true, moral awareness_ would make him undoubtedly disgusted with himself. Which is why his vast mind held doors, so many locked doors, with memories, rational thinking, ideas, past feelings… He lived in the moment, however relative that was to him. And in this life of his, every moment was hollowed anguished, and rage… He was so angry, and it was at so much more than just himself, or the Daleks, or Time Lords… But he didn't know what the anger was for, which only made him more upset.

But he had returned none the less, and the TARDIS had landed herself in a time she thought would please him. She had resisted for a while; his actions, where he wanted to do, what he would take from the previously long-locked weapons room. However, it made him sulky and mean. He would throw things at her interior, and smash furniture, and yell obscenities in Gallifreyan. In fact, he was just throwing temper tantrums, really, but. Like an exhausted mom, she finally gave in. And regretted it, every time. But what could she do? When she didn't submit to him, he became abusive, and it was terrifying. And when she didn't take him to a place of chaos, he would create it.

That was how they landed just a ways away from an alien species called Yaghjehbj –scaly creatures, with slim bodies and long necks and sharp teeth- trapping an old couple and a teenage boy. What they were going to do with them, the Doctor could only imagine would be horribly entertaining. The aliens ignored the Doctor, his presence in the universe was well known to galaxy travelers. You leave him alone, and he leaves you. But, the humans didn't know that. They called out to him, begged, cried, screamed, but still, the Doctor only watched. What were a few human lives for his entertainment?

So he stuck to the shadows, but never hid completely from view. When people realized the one person who could possibly help them won't… The look in their eyes was the most compelling.

* * *

It had taken Sally and Larry an embarrassing -and risky- amount of time to pinpoint the distress caller's location, after having gotten completely turned around twice. Luckily, after much argument, pointing and urgent tones, they tracked down the general area where post claimed to be. It was in the large, overgrown backyard of an abandoned house, in a blocked off neighborhood… Sally seemed to have a knack for breaking into abandon homes, but, thankfully, this one seemed clear of weeping angels… So she hoped.

After continually bursting through the wrong doors, and making bad choices in hallways to take, Sally finally opened a door that caused a surprising amount of light from the cloudy sky to burst in… It took her a millisecond later to smell the smoke, and get her bearings. There was light coming from a fire, in the center of the yard.

"Stay here and assess the area." She commanded authoritatively to Larry, before taking off to get to the center of the yard. When she got a bit closer, she could vaguely make out through the smoke three figures, all energy drained from previous struggling, she was sure, sat with their arms tied together. Standing a ways away from them were to unidentifiable alien creatures, who had yet to notice her coming. Whatever fire they had made, wasn't one of Earth proportions. Even with how large it was, there was too much smoke coming off of it, a practically blinding amount, which she could use to her advantage, or so she thought.

However, her brilliant idea was soon crushed when the aliens turned to face her. It was quite obvious they could see her perfectly. As if by will, the smoke got thicker, and she was soon completely discombobulated. She couldn't tell what was up, down, left or right. And the smoke was _thick. _She was gasping, unable to get proper hold of her breath.

There was suddenly a tight, dry grasp on her arms, and she could feel small talons being sunk into her skin. She was caught.

That rather put a damper on the "experienced rescue artist" bit she had going. It wasn't like she hadn't ever been caught before, but she had never been so in conditions where she could neither see nor breath properly. She didn't know what the creatures were planning on doing to them, but was quite positive it wouldn't be in the captives' best interests.

The creature that had caught her had quite rudely thrown her down onto the weed infested ground, face first. Whatever plant she had landed on was spiked, and she could feel blood being drawn from her face. It was a wonder that Larry was never accused of beating her, with the marks she would get after these missions. However, not for the first time, she considered that this wasn't rescue she was coming back from.

She had all but resided to death, her brain slow and choked from the smoke, when a new face emerged from the darkness, stepping closer, -almost on- her. She looked up, figuring it to be an alien, getting a shock when she could identify a boot. She pulled her eyes up, wondering what other idiot would come out here. Her eyes were heavy, crying from the smoke, and brain slow, but she could have sworn, he looked familiar. Like a long forgotten face, someone you had seen passing on the street on several occasions, an old photograph of… _That was it. But it couldn't be. _The probability was too small… The smoke was seriously getting to her head. Still…

Gasping for air, she managed to choke out a single word; **_"Doctor?" _**


	6. Chapter 6

The Doctor got curious. An unexpected turn of events happened when a girl burst through the door, seeming like the high and mighty hero type he used to be. Quite soon it became clear that that wasn't quite the case with her, the aliens quickly out witting her. Still, the he hadn't ever witnessed a rescue, so she caught his attention. That only grew when, with strangled breath, she managed his name.

He didn't know her, that he was quite sure of… Which meant she was from his future… _I have a future. _

This thought put the Doctor at a pause. He knew her… That explained the misconception of being a hero she obviously possessed. A quick argument broke out in the Doctor's mind. He should let her go, just leave her. He didn't know her yet. He owed her nothing… And yet, he knew he couldn't if there was any chance… If there was any chance of… He couldn't.

The Yaghjehbj were cautiously nearing the pair, put off by the Doctor's interference, but wanting all of the food they could get. "Not this one." He growled to them. "This one is mine."

They hesitated, but they were not a species stupid enough to try to challenge the man. So they receded back to the boy and the old couple, as the Doctor hauled Sally away from the backyard, the thought to go save the other three not one to begin to cross his mind.

As he emerged from the smoke, a man the Doctor instantly didn't like ran to him. No, not him, the girl he was carrying.

"Is she alright?" The shaggy-haired prick's voice homed real concern. _The boyfriend. _They were always so annoying.

"She'll be fine." He dropped her on the ground roughly, ignoring the instant anger that flared in the boyfriend.

"What happened, who are-" Stopping mid-sentence, the boyfriend's eyes widened instantly. "You're… you're the… you're the Doctor." He stuttered, tone instantly changing.

"Does everyone know me?" The Doctor grumbled, shifting.

"I… I… It's really you. It's finally you."

The Doctor rolled his eyes, not one for having fans. "Yeah, alright, I'd like to talk to her now." He nodded towards Sally, who was still lying unconscious on the ground, Larry having placed his jacket under her head for comfort.

"Can… can she… But she's…"

"Yes, very fascinating." He didn't hide the sarcasm from his mock patience. He pulled out his sonic from his jacket, scanned her, watched as she sat up, coughing, and returned the sonic to its rightful spot all in one swift movement.

"Sally!" The boyfriend sighed, relieved, his attention returning to her once again.

"Larry," she gasped, obviously disoriented. Well, that makes getting names easy.

"Doctor." The Doctor added, speeding along the process. They both turned to look at him again, Sally seeming to take a moment to gather her thoughts and comprehend what was happening as Larry blabbered about the events of the past two minutes interaction between himself and the Doctor.

"You're here." Sally whispered finally, a look of disbelief crossing her face as she said so. "The boy, and the couple… Are they alright?" This one gets to the point quickly.

"Yes." He lied easily, wanting to get down to business as much as she seemed to. "Who are you and how do you know me?"

"I… I meet you. Briefly. There were weeping angels."

"What the hell are those?"

"Moving stone statues that send you to different points in time." She explained, not missing a beat. "You helped save us from them, while we helped save you from being stuck in the 1960s without your TARDIS."

"You know about the TARDIS?"

"It's bigger in the inside."

"Different dimension."

"Fascinating." Their conversation was fast pace, neither of them missing a beat before continuing.

"How did you know I was in their?"

"Videos."

"You're very vague."

"As are you."

"Fair enough."

"You didn't know me."

"Must've forgotten you." He said quickly. That was incredibly unlikely. "You seem to know quite a lot about me."

"Loads."

"Do you know what I've just been through, then?"

"Tell me and I will."

The Doctor wasn't amused by the answer. He had halfway hoped she… No. She wasn't a companion of his. Simply a passing face. She didn't matter. "Not going to happen." He muttered finally, and, without another word, turned and left.

Sally looked at Larry briefly, and took off after him. "The others, where are they?" He didn't respond. "Answer me!" She demanded, using her body to blockade him from going any farther.

"Back there." He barked. Her eyes followed his head gesture to the smoke.

"You saved them."

He stopped finally, looking her dead in the eye. "I lied." A moment passed between them, where she calculated the honesty in his eyes, and came to the horrifying conclusion he was telling the truth.

"You can't!"

"Course I can. Not my place to do anything. Let the predator's feed."

"What?" This wasn't the type of man she was expecting at all. "I have to go back, I need to-"

"You go back and you won't make it out again." It wasn't really that he cared much, but felt he should at least point out the obvious.

"I can't leave them!"

"Suit yourself."

"_You _can't leave them!"

The Doctor huffed, and turned again, walking away. "Watch me."

"Doctor!" She grabbed his arm suddenly. He didn't even look as he shoved her off.

"Don't come looking for me again." It was a warning.

She paused, watching him walk away for a while, as Larry came to her side. "Are you alright? What's happened?"

"That man… He's not the Doctor." Her voice was a hoarse whisper. "He can't be."

Larry's heart sank at the disappointment in her eyes. "Sally… Come on. Let's go."

"No." She turned to face Larry. "No, no. I don't know what's wrong with him… But I'm not going to let him… I'm not going to let…" She didn't elaborate, before taking off after him a final time, and Larry her.

"Don't you leave me alone?" The Doctor grunted, not looking back as the pair neared him.

"Doctor, you listen to me now, alright? You're not a bad man. I don't know what's happened to you, and quite frankly, I don't care. Because you're being an ass." He was being much more than that, but simple wording for now. "And you're… You can't be like this."

"What an incredible argument."

_"They need you."_

"Not my problem."

She caught up to him, again, taking his arm. "What's wrong with you?"

He turned to her roughly, snatching her wrist. "I am a different man than I was." He said darkly, tightening his hold on her.

"Hey!" Larry quickly tried to push the Doctor off her, but did little.

"Let me go, Doctor." She could pull pain becoming less dull and more prominent in her wrist. It was going to bruise. Great.

He paused, seeming to notice his hold on her, and dropped it quickly, taking off at a swifter pace. She didn't go after him, not again. Sally didn't know what she was expecting out of this encounter, exactly, but it was far from this.

This couldn't be him. There was no way… but he didn't seem to care. Almost desperately, she called after him, "You're not a bad man, Doctor." If he had heard her, he made no signs of it.


End file.
